System and method for remote monitoring of battery condition

Abstract

A battery monitoring system may be configured to interface with a first battery monitoring unit and a second battery monitoring unit. The first battery monitoring unit may be configured to output data in a first format. The second battery monitoring unit may be configured to output data in a second format, the second format being different than the first format. The battery monitoring system may include a first polling agent, the first polling agent may be configured to receive data from the first battery monitoring unit and normalize the data into a predetermined data format and store the data in a database. The battery monitoring system may also include a second polling agent. The second polling agent may be configured to receive data from the second battery monitoring unit and normalize the data into the predetermined data format and store the data in a database. Furthermore, the battery monitoring system may be configured to output data associated with the condition of a respective battery unit coupled to at least the first battery monitoring unit and the second battery monitoring unit.

1. A battery monitoring system, comprising:
 at least one first polling agent configured to interface with at least one first battery monitoring unit in at least one first location, said at least one first polling agent being configured to receive data in a first digital format from the at least one first battery monitoring unit and being configured to normalize the data received in said first digital format and output data in a predetermined format; 
 at least one second polling agent configured to interface with at least one second battery monitoring unit in at least one second location, said at least one second polling agent being configured to receive data in a second digital format from the at least one second battery monitoring unit, said first digital format being different than said second digital format and being configured to normalize the data received in said second digital format and output data in the predetermined format; 
 a database configured to store digital data in the predetermined format; and 
 a module configured to access the digital data stored in the database in the predetermined format and output data associated with the status of the at least one first battery unit associated with the at least one first battery monitoring unit and data associated with the status of the at least one second battery unit associated with the at least one second battery monitoring unit, the module being in a remote location from the at least one first and second locations. 
 
   
   
     2. The battery monitoring system of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 an account database including data associated with a first account and a second account, the first account being configured to access data received by the at least one first polling agent and the second account being configured to access data received by the at least one second polling agent. 
 
   
   
     3. The battery monitoring system of  claim 2 , wherein the first account is uniquely associated with a first username and a first password and the second account is uniquely associated with a second username and a second password. 
   
   
     4. The battery monitoring system of  claim 1 , wherein the status of the at least one first battery unit associated with the at least one first battery monitoring unit includes alarm information, the alarm information indicating a battery failure condition. 
   
   
     5. The battery monitoring system of  claim 4 , wherein the battery failure condition is reported via e-mail, web-accessible cellular phone, a cellular-phone call, or by web-accessible personal digital assistant (PDA). 
   
   
     6. The battery monitoring system of  claim 4 , wherein the battery failure condition is determined based on a figure of merit being outside of a predetermined range. 
   
   
     7. The battery monitoring system of  claim 6 , wherein the figure of merit is one of impedance, temperature, voltage or current. 
   
   
     8. The battery monitoring system of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 an Internet server module configured to provide the output in an Internet-accessible format. 
 
   
   
     9. The battery monitoring system of  claim 1 , wherein the output includes a trend plot showing at least one of impedance of at least one of the at least one first battery unit and the at least one second battery unit over time and voltage of at least one of the at least one first battery unit. 
   
   
     10. A method, comprising;
 receiving data in a first digital format from at least one first battery monitoring unit in at least one first location; 
 receiving data in a second digital format from at least one second battery monitoring unit in at least one second location; 
 normalizing the data received in the first digital format and the second digital format so that the data received in the first digital format and the second digital format are in a predetermined format; 
 storing the normalized data in a database; 
 selectively outputting data associated with an operating condition of at least one first battery unit associated with the at least one first battery monitoring unit and an operating condition of at least one second battery unit associated with the at least one second battery monitoring unit; and 
 receiving data from the at least one first and second battery monitoring units in a remote location from the at least one first and second locations. 
 
   
   
     11. The method of  claim 10 , wherein selectively outputting data associated with the operating condition of the at least one first battery unit and the at least one second battery unit includes selectively outputting the data in an Internet-accessible format. 
   
   
     12. The method of  claim 10 , further comprising:
 receiving at least one of a username and a password and authenticate the at least one of the username and the password.